


The Crystal of Prodos

by Rona23



Series: Merlin´s  magic [8]
Category: Merlin (TV), Merlin - Fandom
Genre: Arthur Finds Out About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), Crystal - Freeform, Destiny, Gen, Hurt Merlin (Merlin), M/M, Magic, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Once and Future King, POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Prince Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Protective Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), emrys - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:06:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22407694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rona23/pseuds/Rona23
Summary: A kingdom - long at war with Camelot - finally offers peace after a sworn enemy of Uther decided he doesn´t want his son to inherit a kingdom at war.The peace offering is a magical item that reveals magic within people, no matter how small.Arthur realizes two things during this period of time1. he is surrounded by magic2. most people don´t know that they have itThe one thing he doesn´t get is : where the heck is Merlin?Alternatively: the time Arthur was given the opportunity to bann magic from the realm ... and decided against it
Relationships: Gaius & Merlin (Merlin), Gwaine & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Knights of the Round Table & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merlin´s  magic [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1588378
Comments: 23
Kudos: 1067





	The Crystal of Prodos

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a concept idea, really. There is far more potential in this. So if you like the idea, I won´t mind if you make something of it yourself

“You are people of the kingdom of Prodos, you said?” Arthur looked down from his throne at the four guests that had arrived at the castle in the middle of the night.   
They were carrying some kind of object that was hidden by black cloaks.   
And they had introduced this object as a peace offering.   
Arthur didn´t dare trust them. Not to mention he barely had any time to gather his armor, while Merlin was – as usual – getting drunk in the tavern. 

“Yes, your majesty. Our king – Lord Eric has sent us to present this – gift – to you.   
He is certain that a present like this may ease your mind about his intentions and builds a path for both our futures in peace and prosperity.”  
The man – a lanky old man with a very distracting missing teeth – bowed to him. 

“If your kings intentions are as pure as you say – how come he isn´t here then?”

“Our majesty just recently inherited his father´s throne, Sire. You see, his father is sick with an incurable illness. And it is his last wish to make amends with your kingdom.   
Lord Periad does not wish his son to inherit wars that he started. Especially since both parties, namely your father king Uther and him are no longer ruling the kingdoms. 

His majesty, king Eric is young, though strong in his own will.   
He shares his fathers opinions about magic, and even though he knows it differs strongly from yours, he intends to listen to his fathers last wishes.”  
The man bowed once more. 

Arthur looked at him strangely. “Prodos is a land of magic. What can your king offer to me – that would want me to come to a truce with him?”

The man gave him a smile. “He respects your decision to keep magic banned in your kingdom. It is a grave sacrifice for his men to gift this to you. For it is a tool for you to get Camelot rid of magic and sorcerers. All he asks in return is a way of trading between our lands.”

Arthur glanced between him and the cloak in disbelieve.   
“What would king Eric want to trade with me? As far as I know his kingdom flourishes on it´s own quite well. What would he want from me?”

The man took another deep breath. “He wants to – There still are sorcerers in your kingdom. He wants to offer them a safe haven in his kingdom. If they cannot live here -”

“You are asking for weapons.”, Arthur hissed through gritted teeth. Causing the man to step back in shock and defense.   
“Not at all Sire. Not at all. This Crystal -” , another man uncovered a great bluish glowing ball underneath the cloaks.   
“It is a Crystal that feels the presence of Sorcerers and uses their own magic against them.   
A sorcerer with weak magic may only suffer from a nasty headache from it. A stronger one – like Morgana for instance, would faint as soon as it enters it´s radius.   
The more powerful the opponent is – the more it will hurt the sorcerer. Black dots will appear on their Body. The stronger the magic – the bigger the spots.”

Arthur´s eyes widened.   
“King Eric would give me a shield – a – a weapon of sorts – that would stop himself from attacking this kingdom?”

The man smiled. “I knew you would understand. We have heard only kind things about you, Sire.”

“How do I know it would even work?”

The man´s smile faltered. But he held out his own arm.   
“Sire, I myself have practiced magic before. I am not strong, as you will see.”, he lifted the sleeve, revealing nothing but a slightly big black mole.  
“I am lucky that a special tea cures my headache. Others are not as lucky. This orb has been hidden in the vaults of our kingdom since the war started. Pain and misery has been threatening the kingdom. Which is another reason to grand it to you.   
This truce will be beneficial to both these countries....”

The man looked at Arthur, who bit his lip disbelieving and mistrusting.   
With a sigh, the man looked around. “I suppose there are no sorcerers within this castle?”, he said, already fearing for his head, as he turned only to see shaking heads. 

“I´ll make you another offer. How about me and my two friends here -”, he pointed at the woman to his left and the man who had previously lifted the cloak.   
“- stay here for a couple of days, when you see the results of our artifact.   
There must be hidden sorcerers here somewhere. As soon as you have all you need, you can make your decision on your own time.   
We´ll accept to be guarded by your knights, if you will feel safer then.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion.   
Because something was amiss here. Something of all this great offering made him feel wary. It was too perfect. It sounded too good to be true.   
And yet he didn´t believe it was a lie. What was amiss was something the man said. Something obvious, but Arthur had difficulties putting his finger on it. 

Then he noticed what it was. “Is king Eric not afraid of the consequences of his actions? Is he not aware what evil magic brings? The man offers corrupted people a safe haven in his kingdom. He´s letting murderers in.”

The man smiled. “See? This is where your opinion differs. King Eric knows magic to be pure and kind. He sees it good and beneficial for his men.   
Like this orb. To you – Because it rids you of your enemies without much a fight, it sounds like a shield of protection.   
To our kind – our kingdom – it is a curse, a spreading disease. It weakens us.   
But it is not the orb that defines whether or not it is good or bad. It is what the man who uses it sees in it. You define what´s good and what isn´t king Arthur. For it is you who makes the law.   
Should you ever change your mind about magic – then we shall do whatever we can to ensure that you get rid of it, without fearing a war between the lands.”

And wasn´t that exactly what the Dolma had told Arthur? Isn´t that what Dragoon the great said?  
Or almost every sorcerer who burned at the Pyre?   
Many of those who were beheaded?   
Hadn´t Arthur himself doubted his father´s harsh sentences more than once?  
Arthur shook his head at the thought. “George shall show you to your rooms then.”, he said. And soon enough, George – the most efficient servant he had ever met – guided the men and woman out into the hall.   
The glowing Crystal was left behind. 

The king stared at it warily. As though it would jump at him any minute now. Well – it was a magical item after all.   
His concerns were kind of justified.   
It looked harmless though. Suspicious beyond believe, Arthur approached the thing. It didn´t even budge as he hit it with his sword. 

His sword however – that was a different story. 

All of a sudden – it burned in his hand and with a curse, Arthur let it fall to the ground.   
The sword, the one he had pulled out the stone all those months ago – was covered in black. Like grime it covered the blade.   
Arthur stared at the orb in fear. That sword was not magical – was it?  
Though it was perfectly balanced, he must admit. And it was a stone only the “once and future king” could pull out a sword. And it wasn´t rusted.   
Maybe it did have magic.   
Arthur had been using a magical sword this entire time?!?!

He rubbed his hand, it burned like hell. But he must test his theory. Not that the orb was just here to burn his people to a crisp.   
“Leon, please hand me your sword please.”

“Sire?”, Leon – who had stood guard at the door and witnessed the whole thing looked at the blackened sword in agony and fear.   
“You sword, Leon. Now.”

Leon hesitated, but went through the room to hand him his sword either way. Arthur shot him a grateful smile, as he slightly touched the orb with Leon´s sword once more.   
He was ready to let the sword fall, should it burn again. But it didn´t. It just clinked uselessly against the glass like Crystal.   
Arthur took another deep breath, as he used his injured hand to touch the orb.   
Nothing. 

“Sire?”

Or not. “What is it?”, Arthur asked.   
“You´re glowing.” Leon deadpanned.   
“I´m what now?”  
“You´re – you´re glowing, Sire.” Arthur went to the table, where fruits were carefully placed on silver tablets as snacks for the court.   
He threw them to the ground. Apples and peaches rolling in all directions as he did so. 

He looked in the mirror. And there it was, clear as day. A bluish light emerged around him. Like some kind of shield.

Arthur was raging in anger now. This must be a curse. There was no other explanation. But he had to understand how to get rid of this. He took Leon´s sword and ran after George. 

_______________

The man looked at Arthur for one second. He heard the accusations without changing his expression as he blinked.   
Walking in circled around Arthur in disbelieve – barely listening. 

“Incredible. I have never seen such a strong one before.”

“What? What is this?!”, Arthur held out his sword, ready to fight the sorcerer, who only held his arms up in surrender.   
“You have touched the orb, haven´t you?”

“Yes, what of it?”

The audacity of this guy. Arthur was furious. 

“It is a sphere of protection.”

“Yeah sure, what is it really?”

The man sighed, turning around to grand himself a few berries. George was too kind of a servant. Arthur swore the man would treat a donkey like a king – Sure Arthur had been turned into a donkey before – but that was NOT the point. 

“When something touches the orb – the orb reveals the magic within. An enchanted object would turn black and become hot. A sorcerer would die from it´s touch. It´s presence alone makes us suffer already, I would never dare touch it.” The man shivered, giving Arthur the chance to interrupt. 

“I touched it.”

“And you clearly are no sorcerer.”, the man nodded with a sad smile.   
“Then why am I glowing?”, Arthur hissed. 

“Some man´s life have been touched by magic.”, he shrugged knowingly.

“You mean – I have this – this thing “, Arthur pointed vaguely at his bright glowing self. “Because magic has attacked me before?”

The man laughed a little. “I hardly think that would warrant such a strong shield.   
No. There is a sorcerer, a strong one I believe – who is using all his power to protect you. This shield is but a reflection of the sorcerers emotions towards you.   
They must care for you gravely. With how strong this shield is – they must have saved your life hundreds of times.” The man tilted his head. Somehow irritated by his own words all of a sudden. 

“What sorcerer would want to keep me alive?”

The man blinked. Just as confused. “I don´t know.”, they locked eyes. Arthur cursed internally.   
He believed him. As incredulous as it sounded... it did make sense. 

_________________

“Gaius – what do you think about this?”, Arthur sat in Gaius chambers. It was the next morning and originally, Arthur had come here to talk to Merlin.   
Because that idiot was late. Again. 

However, he remembered that Gaius knew quite a lot about magical items – maybe he would know more about the orb that was now safely guarded in the vaults.   
Gaius looked tired, sluggish in his movements, as he held his head. 

“I don´t know, Sire. Maybe – urgh. No.”  
Gaius shook his head, looking at his hands a few times, as though he was asking it if he had a fever. 

“Gaius?”, Arthur asked, irritated. Was Gaius getting sick?  
No that was not a good sign. Not now. 

“I – I´m sorry Sire. I can´t think clearly as of now. I feel dizzy.”, he mumbled, sitting down.   
When his arm moved up to his forehead once more, Arthur saw it.   
Instantly, he stood up and grabbed for the old mans sleeve. Just to pull it up with force. Realization hit him with force. How could he have been so dumb?  
A black mark – twice the size of a pear was covering Gaius´s arm. It colored his veins – showing Arthur it´s exact path. 

Arthur held eye contact with the old man. Who gave him a pitying look in return.   
“You knew I used magic before the purge.”, he said, as he looked at Arthur for the first time since he arrived.   
“Sire? Why are you glowing?”

_______________

Arthur was tapping the table with his fingers.   
It´s been two days since the crystal arrived. It seems – many people in the lower town were suddenly suffering from headaches.   
There were children too. 

There was a slight panic about black marks. Some believed it was a curse that predicted their death. Arthur knew better. The only way that thing would predict their death was if Arthur sentenced all of them with treason.  
But it were so many. And Arthur was not Uther.   
His father – Arthur realized – would have fought a war against Prodos if he had known about this orb. He would have wanted it.   
Arthur feared it. He couldn´t burn children. He couldn´t behead the entire country.   
And it dawned on him that some of these people – like Elyan and Gwen – had never, NEVER used magic in their lifes. .  
Small. Much smaller than Gaius´s. But they were there. Which meant – maybe – people didn´t choose magic. Maybe magic chose them.   
He couldn´t kill his trusted knights over superstition. 

Arthur was hiding in his throne room. Thinking.   
Where was Merlin when he needed him? The guy tended to have some intelligent and wise insights on these things. (Not that he would ever admit that to Merlin) Though he knew Merlin would definitely make fun of the fact that he was glowing. Still!   
However, it was growing weaker. Was that an effect of the orb weakening? Or the heart of the sorcerer changing?

He had let Gwaine touch the orb as well. Gwaine was one of the few people who were as magicless as Arthur was. Which meant the orb shouldn´t hurt him at all. The others he feared they would die if they tried.  
Gwaine had laughed at Arthur´s terrified expression when he touched the thing.   
He as well started glowing though. Not quite as bright as Arthur – it was a bit smaller, more fickle, but strong non the less.   
Arthur could only assume the sorcerer had priorities. Or Gwaine was in less danger than Arthur. 

That is – if what the odd man of Prodos said was true. 

Gwaine seemed delighted though. “I look like a god!”, he had said, while looking at a mirror, trying to touch the visible light. (He failed)

“You will not prank the towns people.”, Arthur glared at him.   
Gwaine held his hands up in mock surrender, but grinned non the less. “No – no.... but I bet Merlin would love this.”

Arthur was thinking of this, when Gwaine suddenly stormed into the throne room. Talk of the devil. But Gwaine was panicking.   
Gwaine didn´t panic. He ran from bar men and women. From debors, from farmer whom he owed food or money. He definitely didn´t panic.   
But Gwaine was pale. He looked downright horrified. 

“We found Merlin!”

Arthur had expected that sentence to be more cheerful. The king stood up abruptly.   
“Where is he?” This sounded like Merlin was – no he wasn´t – he couldn´t be. 

“He´s – he´s at Gaius´s chambers. Gaius is doing whatever he can – but – we think he might not -”, Gwaine gulped, but he said enough to make Arthur understand.   
Arthur ran.   
He ran like he never had no time to breathe. No time to think. His best friends life was at stake.

He – followed by Gwaine – ran through the corridors, ignored the pointing fingers at their glowing forms – just to storm into Gaius´s chambers.   
There was Merlin, surrounded by knights, as Gaius put a cold cloth on his forehead.   
Arthur couldn´t see him very clearly. But whatever it was – sounded severe. 

“Out of my way!”, he demanded, shoving his knights away from him. 

Then he saw him. 

Merlin was breathing shallow breaths. His body was still- but he was sweating. And Arthur would have asked if he was poisoned. He would have asked if Merlin had been wounded, stabbed or tortured while he was gone, but he didn´t need to. 

“Call the three people from Prodos. Bring them here. Now!”, he demanded. 

Because Merlin´s skin was covered in bluish black spots. His skin looked like the sky. Only small parts, small stars of sunburned skin was still visible. 

And what´s worse – those untouched spots were fading behind more spots.   
Merlin was dying. 

“What happened?”, the man with the missing tooth came into the physicians chambers, staring at the men that surrounded their friend. 

“My servant has been – infected.”, Arthur said. Because now he was certain that what the man had said was not true.   
It couldn´t be. He had said someone as strong as Morgana would faint if exposed to the Crystals. Merlin was no sorcerer. Especially not as strong as Morgana. Definitely not stronger.   
Merlin was dying!

“Holy-”, the foreign man covered his mouth as he saw the boy. Slowly, he approached, touching the servant slightly. 

“YOU said, someone as strong as Morgana would faint should she come here. Merlin is dying! He´s covere in this stuff from head to toe!” Arthur stated the obvious, pacing in the room now, as his knights eyed him with suspicion and irritation at his glowing appearance.   
It gave him something threatening. Godly, as Gwaine had said before. 

“This – this man -”  
The man shook his head, overwhelmed by what he saw.   
“I heard the rumors. I never thought – oh, Emrys.”, he muttered. 

“What is it? What are you talking about?”, Arthur demanded. 

“Morgana is a high priestess of the old religion. Her magic is strong enough that would she be exposed to the crystal, she would faint. She would be covered in with these marks. But not completely. She as well is only human.   
Her humanity would be safe from the Crystal. She would survive.   
This boy – there is nothing human about him.”

The chatter, the attention, all was quiet and directed at him now, as he opened Merlin´s eyelids. Even the white of his eyes had darkened. 

“What do you mean there is nothing human about him?”, Arthur´s eyes had widened, as he looked at his dying servant. 

“This boy is made of magic.”, the man nodded. 

Arthur shook his head. “No! Not Merlin. Merlin is innocent and kind and harmless – he´s not – he can´t be -”, he looked at his knights for help. 

“You have asked me before what sorcerer would be interested in protecting you. I think you have your answer now.”  
Arthur paled. 

Magic... Merlin was magic. Not just a sorcerer, Merlin was magic. And he was protecting him. Him and his knights – and his kingdom, Arthur would guess.   
Magic itself was protecting him.  
“We have to take the Crystal back to Prodos. We cannot let it kill Emrys.”, the foreign man spoke with sincerity.  
Arthur looked at him oddly.

“Emrys?”

“Ah – yes. Emrys existence has been foreseen by many seers hundreds of years ago. He was prophesied to be the guidance of the once and future king.   
He must help you bring peace to this kingdom.   
I´m sure king Eric will understand and greet you on different terms next time.”, the man bowed to king Arthur.   
“After all – he wouldn´t want to be the enemy of the once and future king, right?”, he shot Arthur a toothless grin. 

Arthur opened his mouth to argue, but he didn´t understand a word. 

“When he wakes, you can ask him yourself. Just – do yourself the favor and – just listen.”

Arthur nodded helplessly as the man left the room in a hurry. No doubt to somehow retrieve the orb and leave Camelot once more. 

_________________

As the man had promised, they left Camelot. And the further they left the country, the paler Merlin became. The spots retreated, his breathing normalized and his sweat dried.   
Merlin slept for five days.   
In that time Arthur talked to Gaius and let him explain most of what had happened the past couple of years. Arthur wanted to ask Merlin himself. But alas the guy was asleep, he had little choice but wait.   
And if he rewrote the law a little – well – he would explain that to Merlin as soon as he heard the full story.


End file.
